Saturday, September 4, 2010

A Hundred Years Ago -- 1910

Human existence on the Orb of Wounded Souls does not stand still.

A hundred years ago, 1910, in the USA the average wage was 22 cents per hour, 14 percent of the homes had a bathtub, 8 percent of homes had a telephone, there were 8,000 automobiles with 144 miles of paved roads, and marijuana, heroin and morphine were available over the counter at the local drugstore.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times -- or most likely it was somewhere in the middle.

The following events took place in 1910:

Jan 10 -- The U.S. Census categorized the population as "White, Black, Mulatto, Chinese, Japanese, Other."

Jan 21 -- Great Britain and Russia took part in a military intervention of Persia (Iran, Iraq).

Feb 8 -- The Boy Scouts of America were incorporated into existence.

Feb 17 -- In San Francisco, 3 elephants appearing at a vaudeville house went on a rampage in North Beach.

Feb 25 -- The Dalai Lama fled from China and took refuge in India.

Mar 10 -- Slavery was abolished in China.

Mar 17 -- The Camp Fire Girls organization was formed.

Mar 28 -- The first seaplane took off from water in France.

Apr 3 -- In Alaska, the highest mountain in North America, Mt. McKinley, was climbed.

Apr 14 -- Starting a baseball tradition, President William Howard Taft threw the first pitch on baseball's Opening Day. The Washington Senators defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 3-0 as Walter Johnson threw a one-hitter.

Apr 19 -- Halley's Comet became visible to the naked eye.

Apr 21 -- Samuel Langhorne Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, died in Redding, Connecticut. "If you don't like the weather in Connecticut, wait a few minutes."

Apr 28 -- The first air flight at night was performed in England.

May 6 -- Britain's King Edward VII died and King George V ascended to the throne.

May 11 -- Glacier National Park was established in Montana.

May 18 -- The Earth passed through the tail of Halley's Comet causing panic.

May 31 -- Elizabeth Blackwell, the first female physician, died.

Jun 20 -- In Mexico, martial law was declared and hundreds were arrested.

Jun 24 -- Japan attacked Korea.

Jun 25 -- The Mann Act was passed by Congress, forbidding transporting women across state lines for immoral purposes.

Jul 4 -- Jack Johnson, a black man, knocked out Jim Jeffries, a white man, in the 15th round of a heavyweight boxing match in Reno, Nevada. As Johnson entered the ring, a band played "All Coons Look Alike to Me." Johnson's victory sparked race riots across the USA, leaving 26 people dead.

Jul 17 -- Charlie Chaplin arrived in the USA from London as part of a theatrical troupe.

Sep 27 -- In France, the first test flight of a twin-engine airplane occurred.

Oct 23 -- In Indiana, Blanche S. Scott became the first woman to make a solo airplane flight, reaching an altitude of 12 feet.

Nov 12 -- The first movie stunt was performed when a man jumped into the Hudson River from a burning balloon.

Nov 14 -- U.S. Navy Lt. Eugene Ely became the first pilot to take off in an airplane from the deck of a ship.

Nov 20 -- Revolution broke out in Mexico.

Nov 30 -- On Jekyll Island off the coast of Georgia, financial privateers held a secret meeting, disguised as a duck hunt, at an exclusive club that eventually led to the formation of the Federal Reserve System.

Dec 21 -- In England, 344 mine workers died in an explosion.

Dec 31 -- The U.S. tobacco industry produced 9 billion cigarettes for the year.

Those who control the present control the past -- those who control the past control the future. And the true past becomes a pile of ashes.

When the past no longer illuminates the future, the spirit of the Wounded Souls dwells in darkness.
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Quote for the Day -- "No tendency is quite so strong as the desire to lay down rules of conduct for other people." William Howard Taft (U.S. President 1909 - 1913)
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Bret Burquest is an award-winning columnist and author of four novels. He lives in the Ozark Mountains with a dog named Buddy Lee and where 1910 adds up to 11. His blogs appear on several websites, including www.myspace.com/bret1111
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About Me

Computer Programmer (1972-2002), College Instructor (2001-2006), Newspaper Columnist (2001-2007). Author of 12 books, including ORB OF WOUNDED SOULS, PATH TO FOURTH DENSITY, 11:11 EARTH TIME and BRAIN BLOSSOMS. He lives in the Ozark Mountains, where he writes stuff and talks to trees.